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Inauguration of Exhibition SLA Asian Conference 26 November 2008 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of your SLA colleagues in at least 75 countries around the world, and their strategic partners, I am very pleased to welcome you. SLA is very proud to support ICoASL and the SLA Asian Chapter with funding and speakers so that we can all come together for this important international conference. We have three very full days ahead and so much learn from each other.
I am personally delighted to be here in India--one of my favorite places on earth. The American writer Mark Twain wrote, "So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds." I am happy for each day that I have the opportunity to greet the sun from India. It is a rare and special privilege.
This is a very exciting time at SLA. We are getting ready to celebrate our Centennial--the 100th anniversary of our founding--in 2009. We are also excited about our new dues tier, which will make SLA membership affordable for many more librarians and information specialists here in Asia and around the world. Members who make less than the equivalent of 18,000 U.S. dollars can now join or renew their membership for 35 U.S. dollars, or 1,523 rupees. In fact, this new dues structure was your idea, and it was a good one. We are very optimistic that it will expand the global reach of SLA, with each new member bringing special insights and perspectives to our association.
Your work is important because your employers need reliable information to support their decisions now more than ever before. Many people think that the Internet makes your job unnecessary. I know that is totally wrong. Even the big search engines are capable of finding no more than about 20 percent of the information on the Web. And, of course, there is a great deal of content that is not on the Web. You are an important asset to your organization in locating the information it needs. But you cannot do it alone.
The global economic crisis has reminded us once again how very interconnected we are. Even businesses that once considered themselves local . . . insulated from the fluctuations of world markets . . . have learned just how connected they are. When energy prices rise, for instance, the cost of paper can rise dramatically--it takes a lot of energy to turn a tree into paper! When paper is expensive, producing a book, a magazine, even a newspaper becomes expensive, too. And, with fuel prices high, the cost of transporting those books, and magazines, and newspaper goes up, too. That is one of many reasons that many publications are going online exclusively.
I suppose we are lucky that all the information in libraries is no longer made of paper. Just think: Library collections were once contained within four walls, and the people who worked in these libraries were isolated. In fact, John Cotton Dana, SLA's founder, even used the word "monastic" to describe the idea of the library. One hundred years ago, he set out to change that. In founding SLA, he had a single purpose: to connect professionals so that they could share information and learn from one another.
That is still SLA's purpose. One of our most important priorities is connecting librarians and information specialists around the world--and not just with one another. Today's librarians have a world of tools and resources available to help them locate, assemble, organize, combine, manipulate, and disseminate information. And connecting with our strategic partners--the organizations that supply those tools and resources--is as important as connecting with each other.
That is why we are fortunate to have a number of our partners here with us as exhibitors. It is my honor and privilege to inaugurate the exhibition. I urge all of you to take the time to visit each of our exhibitors.
Find out about the tools and services they offer. Just as important, let them know about the tools and services you need. They are looking forward to meeting you.
In the three days we are together, I also look forward to meeting many of you. I want your ideas about ways that SLA can help you in your job and in your career. I want to learn more about the challenges you face and the solutions you have found.
We have a saying in the U.S. about influential people--maybe you use it as well. We say of such a person, "She's got connections!"
With SLA, you have connections, too. SLA links you to your fellow information professionals all over the world . . . to the latest professional development tools . . . and, with this exhibition, to products and services that can help you do your job.
I wish each of you a rewarding and productive experience at this conference.
Thank you.
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